Warts and all

A scene from The Road to Mecca
- Photo by Daren Scott

No, Helen Martins doesn’t have OCD. The “clutter” around the elderly widow’s home in Nieu- Bethesda, South Africa, (much of which she created as objets d’art) represents the eccentricities of a free spirit. Churchman Marius Byleveld finds a certain blasphemy in the disorderliness and wants to put Helen in a home—but a feisty young teacher’s epiphany marks Helen’s reprieve and the rediscovery of her fighting form. In The Road to Mecca, the current San Diego Repertory Theatre entry, Playwright and Tony-nominated UCSD theater Prof. Athol Fugard, a native South African, has overwritten the script, but not gratuitously so; and he’s made sure that each character, warts and all, gets a fair hearing. Close your eyes—you’ll feel the simpatico between Helen (Kandis Chappell) and teacher Elsa Barlow (Amanda Sitton) through the women’s voices, even amid the substandard dialect. TV veteran Armin Shimerman is a joy to behold as Byleveld; never mind that the character’s a total asshole for the most part. Todd Salovey’s direction is smart and deliberate. Through Oct 17 at The Lyceum Space, 79 Horton Plaza, Downtown. $29-$47. sdrep.org

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OPENING

The Glory Man: Clarence Jordan, author of The Cotton Patch Gospels, founds Habitat for Humanity in the Deep South of the 1950s. Produced by Lamb’s Players Theatre, it’s in previews and opens Oct. 8 at The Ione and Paul Harter Stage, 1142 Orange Ave. in Coronado. $28-$58. lambsplayers.org

NOW PLAYING

* Jack Goes Boating: A limo driver’s romance with a funeral-home worker inspires him to take cooking and swimming lessons while his best friend’s marriage hits rough waters. Produced by Ion Theatre Company, it runs through Oct. 9 at BLK BOX @ 6th & Penn in Hillcrest. $10-$25. iontheatre.com

* Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin: Soaring success and a fall from grace marked the career of the man who changed motion pictures forever. Through Oct. 17 at the Mandell Weiss Theatre in La Jolla. $44-$80. lajollaplayhouse.org

Notes from Underground: Obsess ing over old wounds, a man quits his civil service job to live in isolation and madness. Through Oct. 17 at the Potiker Theatre in La Jolla. $31-$66. lajollaplayhouse.org

* miXtape: Life was just beginning for Generation X in this musical look at the 1980s. Produced by Lamb’s Players Theatre, it runs through Oct. 24 at The Horton Grand Theatre, Downtown. $28- $58. lambsplayers.org

* Welcome to Arroyo’s: Alejandro and his sister Molly discover what might be a secret about their mother that could change the foundation of their lives and, possibly, the history of hiphop. Through Oct. 31 at The Old Globe Theatre’s Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre in Balboa Park. $29-$67. old globe.org

Brighton Beach Memoirs: Fifteen-year-old Eugene can’t think about much else except playing for the Yankees—and girls. Through Nov. 7 in repertory with Broadway Bound, its sequel, at the Old Globe Theatre mainstage in Balboa Park. $29-$85. oldglobe.org

* The Norman Conquests: This trilogy of full-length comedies (Table Manners, Round and Round the Garden, Living Together), performed in rotating repertory, focuses on Norman and his oddball in-laws. Produced by Cygnet Theatre Company, the program runs through Nov. 7 at The Old Town Theatre in Old Town. $24-$29. cygnettheatre.org

* Romeo and Juliet: Two crazy Italian kids fall in love and pay for it with their lives in the middle of a family feud. Produced by Intrepid Shakespeare Company, it runs through Oct. 17 at The Roundabout Theatre in Encinitas. $15-$25. intrepidshake
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Warts and all

The Road to Mecca and the rest of this week's theater listings

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